RIP To An All-Time Hockey Legend, Barry Melrose
Patrick McDermott. Getty Images.Barry Melrose was everything that a hockey player is supposed to be.
Just a tough son of a bitch from Kelvington, Saskatchewan. He was never the greatest player on the ice, but he was a hard-nosed defenseman who was going to make himself plenty comfortable in the penalty box to make sure the other team was as uncomfortable as possible on the ice. He bounced around between the NHL and the AHL for most of his career, and clearly that built some character.
Character is probably the biggest word that comes to mind when I think about Barry Melrose. Because his character was larger than life. Hockey players are tough, but they also have a special flare to them. Some style, some swagger, some goddamn pizazz. And that's really where Barry Melrose became the legend he is today.
Once Barry Melrose started his career on the broadcast side of the game, he became synonymous with hockey. He had the hair, he had the suits, he had the ability to say whatever was on his mind without giving a single shit about what anybody else thought. He was simply just cool as shit. He looked like a hockey player, and he sounded like a hockey player because he was a hockey player. No offense to all the great broadcast guys out there but he wasn't some dork who went to journalism school and happened to end up on a hockey broadcast. He was the real deal, and he was the perfect man to be opening the front door to any newcomer watching the sport.
I don't know too much about Barry Melrose as a man. But for a guy that successful and popular to seemingly never have anybody ever say a bad word about him at all? He had to have been an A1 human being. He had to be one of the best out there. Because there are so many people out there constantly looking to tear others down, but Barry Melrose was just universally beloved. An incredible man with an incredible head of hair, and an incredible passion for the game. What a tough blow heading into the new season.
Rest in peace, Barry. And congrats on having the best head of hair up there in heaven.